


Nyeh

by mouseinthemidnight, yourKitty



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Other, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, yeah it was a bit strange for me too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 19:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12711933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouseinthemidnight/pseuds/mouseinthemidnight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourKitty/pseuds/yourKitty
Summary: Which word game is more brain-teasing: crosswords? Or jumbles?You and a certain skeleton say jumbles.





	Nyeh

“NYEH!” 

Papyrus rose from the snow in a mighty swoop of his red scarf. He frustratedly tossed a sheet of paper covered in jumbled letters to the ground. The paper only defied his severe motion and fluttered innocently to the cold, white blanket of snow that was spread in front of the house he and Sans shared.

Sans almost knew better than to question the issue this time.

“I DESPISE JUNIOR JUMBLES!” The taller skeleton’s dilemma made itself known regardless.

The smaller shook his head slightly, the same sly grin as ever plastered on his face. He was of the opposite persuasion. How could jumbles possibly be more difficult than crosswords? 

You peered outside, past the cracked-open door of the two brothers’ cozy cabin, only to see Papyrus furiously stomping the sheet of paper into the snow. You let out a small sigh, your warm breath vapourizing in the chilling air of Snowdin.

Sans, remarkably attentive as ever, cast a glance back at you when he heard. “what’s up, kid?”

“Um…” You backed away, suddenly unable to string a sentence or two together. It had always been advisable to watch your words with Sans.

“we woke you, huh?” Sans walked over to you at the door, his hands nestled deeply in the pockets of his blue hoodie in their typical position. “my brother’s just having a little trouble with a puzzle. y’know how it goes.”

“Yep, I do.” You were contemplating an effort to assist, but you only stood there to await a response. 

“maybe you could help him out.” Sans prodded, nudging you gently with an elbow. “poor guy. he’s been working himself... to the bone.” At this he winked.

You couldn’t stop yourself from cringing at his pun, as you figured that wasn’t the end of them.. Sighing again, you gave in and approached Papyrus, doubting you’d do much better with a word jumble. 

Papyrus was now sitting in the snow again, his arms crossed tightly over his prized armour. Although he had no muscles with which to form an expression, the pout on his face was unmistakable. The Junior Jumble puzzle lay in the snow beside him, paper bent and wrinkled ever so slightly from his tantrum.

“Hey, man.” You leaned down to get a look at the puzzle and moved even closer to retrieve it. You placed your hands on your knees for balance, the jumble between your middle and index fingers, then look meaningfully towards Papyrus. 

He glanced at you, mildly flustered by the proximity between you and himself, yet his jaw remained set stubbornly. “I AM FINISHED WITH THAT RIDICULOUS PUZZLE.”

You reviewed the puzzle. His answers were still jumbled. There was no way you couldn’t be amused by this turn of events, although you undoubtedly felt sympathetic toward him and this unfortunate situation. That is, it was unfortunate for him. You recognized that you could take this opportunity to further befriend one of the Underground dwellers.

“Hmm. You sure you’re finished…?” You ventured slowly, wanting to help him, though certainly endeavouring not to upset him any more. You understood he had to hold onto something, even as much as prideful charisma.

The “great Papyrus”, for all his greatness, was a sensitive chap, and better won over by being treated with gentleness than with tough love. You knew full well that it behooved you to choose your words wisely… however, you wished you knew which ones would serve you best. After all, you had been staying with the skeleton brothers only for a short time-- ever since you had fallen into the mountain-- and although you prided yourself on your ability to judge character, you still were not sure if things were as they seemed with these two monsters.

He gave you no answer, so you went on to show him the unfinished jumble, maintaining a sense of friendly understanding. “I can help you, if you’d like,” you continued with your endeavour as smoothly as you knew how. “Jumbles aren’t so easy. I get it.” You hoped he would take kindly to your words and accept your help, though doing so would be much outside the realm of his character.

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEEDS NO HELP.” He retorted, puffing out his chest with indignance.

A moment of silence passed. When he realized you were still looking at him expectantly, his stubborn expression melted into one of humility.

“... YES… PLEASE HELP.”

You could do naught but be amused by his previous resistance juxtaposed to how easily he gave in, all from a glance. “Um, I don’t know if you know this, but, uh, all your answers are still jumbled. I think we should start with that.” 

“I’VE NOTICED…” He reluctantly admitted, with a bit of a frustrated growl. “NONE OF IT WILL MAKE SENSE.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” you affirmed with an innocent grin. “I bet there are more in here, though. We could try a different one if you want, and I can help you through it.” 

Papyrus grumbled a sentence or so more before leaning over to glare at the puzzle in your hands. He was mindful, you noted, not to get too close to you. The short amount of distance between the two of you already rendered him nervous, and it was becoming more apparent as his anger was slowly ebbing. “I… I SUPPOSE THIS ONE WILL DO.” He pointed out one jumbled word near the centre of the sheet with a red-gloved finger.

You focused on this particular word: “SLEPYAR.” At a loss yourself, you waited and hoped Papyrus could pull anything from it. What the heck was a “SLEPYAR,” anyhow? 

“WHAT THE HECK IS A SLEPYAR, ANYHOW?” Papyrus huffed, echoing your silent question. He squinted his eyes-- or the lack thereof, as the case may have been-- attempting to formulate a solution. “SLEEP YAR. YAR? A SLEEP PIRATE? THE ANSWER IS PIRATE?”

“I…” You disagreeingly took another look at the word, but appreciated his line of reasoning. “I don’t think so.” You studied it further, straining, and found a possible solution. “What about ‘parsley’?” 

“PARSLEY? NO, THANK YOU. I’M SAVING ROOM FOR MY SPAGHETTI LUNC--... OOOOHHH.” Papyrus’ expression lit up in a way that you had never really seen before, with the realization that you might indeed be correct. “IS THAT THE ANSWER?”

“Well, it fits in there,” you replied as you wrote the letters in the word “parsley” neatly into each provided square beneath the jumbled version of the word. “I’m not sure what else it would be. I guess it can’t be wrong, but we’ll have to see what we get for the other words to get the answer to the whole thing.” 

“YES!” Papyrus punched the air. He hopped to his feet, sending snow flying around the two of you, and posed triumphantly. “THIS WORD JUMBLE IS NO MATCH FOR US NOW!”

Watching him engulfed in victorious elation, you were reluctant to send the reminder that you had three more words left to unjumble.

“WE SHALL SOLVE IT TOGETHER.” Papyrus resolved, plopping back into the snow beside you. He seemed more confident now that you had shown him a possible solution. “LET’S SEE… NEHKTCI. NEHKTCI? NECKSY?” He tilted his head thoughtfully.

“Necktie?” Trying your hand at guessing, you were naturally unsure of the extra letter. Then, taking a short pause, “No… there’s an ‘H.’ Hmm. Kitchen,” you exclaimed, fairly confident this time. 

“THAT’S IT! YOU’RE REALLY GOOD AT THIS.” Papyrus seemed almost moved by your ingenuity.

“Oh, I’m... I’m not, really.” You were humbled by his enthusiasm, though you knew he was easily excited. “Why don’t you try the next one?” You pointed to the next jumble “ETSRRINA.” 

“ETSRRINA… ETSRRINA…” Papyrus paused and cast a thoughtful stare above. He sat there for a long time, obviously thinking very, very hard. “STR-... STREN-... STRAIN-..... STRAINER?”

“I think that’s right!” You were proud of him and you wanted him to hear it. “I’m so proud of you.” You grinned as you filled in the boxes with letters. “I’m noticing a theme here,” you revealed, hoping he’d find it easier from now on until the end. 

“WOWIE!” Papyrus’ cheekbones lit up with a rush of colour, both in shock and delight that he had been successful. “JUST ONE MORE TO GO! YES… YES, I THINK YOU’RE RIGHT. THERE SEEMS TO BE A FOOD-Y THEME. HMMMM.”

“More like a spaghetti theme, it seems. There’s one more we need to do, though. ‘SANMRPAE.’” You paused to let him figure this one out as well. 

“HMMM. SOMETHING FOOD-Y AND SPAGHETTI-Y… WELL, WHAT DO I LIKE WITH MY SPAGHETTI? MEATBALLS… CHEESE…” Papyrus stroked his jaw pensively.

“But what’s SANMRPAE?” You giggled, mostly at his thoughtfulness and how genuinely charming he appeared. “Wait, did you say cheese?” Pausing intently, you created an answer. “Parmesan?”

“PARMESAN!” Papyrus declared, at exactly the same moment you claimed the same word.

“It’s gotta be right, then. Great minds think alike,” you said, as you wrote the word down. 

“THAT MEANS WE’RE FINISHED??” Papyrus stared down at the sheet of paper in your hands, absolutely flabbergasted.

“It does!” Smiling, you turned the paper toward him to demonstrate that you were indeed done. 

The skeleton bounced in place with joy. “WE DID IT!”

“You were actually able to cooperate with a human,” you remarked, goading and anticipating a particular reaction, but to no avail. “We should do it again some time, yeah?” 

“YES!” He seized your hand and gripped it tight with gratitude. “THANK YOU, (Y/N). I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU…”

Not a second passed before your eyes darted down to your hand in his, drinking in the remarkable size difference. It was a little strange, a skeleton holding your hand, but you appreciated it as you stood and traced the moment, unwilling to forget. 

Papyrus also glanced down once he noticed the expression that you’d caught, and, again, an inexplicable flush of colour rose from his cheekbones. He quickly released your hand, thinking you must have been puzzled and struggling to find a proper explanation. 

“I… FLIRTING? O-OF COURSE NOT!” He stammered. “I’M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS…”

“I don’t meet those standards?” You asked him with a faint note of disappointment, feigning it all of course, but ultimately you weren’t expecting or even desiring a straight answer from such a question. It was a question that harboured implications you shouldn’t delve into. 

“WAIT, WHAT? I MEAN, OF COURSE YOU DO! JUST…” His eyes got surprisingly wide as he continued to stammer.

“What?” You smiled confusedly, seriously unsure why he’s becoming so flustered. 

“... I DIDN’T WANT TO REVEAL MY ULTIMATE FEELINGS SO SOON…” 

“Too late.” Smirking, you stepped back and looked about the area, utterly lost. 

“... I GUESS… THAT MEANS I HAVE TO ASK YOU ON A DATE? I HAVE NEVER ASKED ANYONE THAT BEFORE...” 

“Neither have I,” you admitted, still unconvinced that this was a good place to start. 

“WELL… FEAR NOT!” He moved to one knee in a noble position. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ASK YOU ON A DATE. THAT IS… IF YOU WANT TO?”

With no hesitation you honestly answered, “I want to.” 

“R-REALLY?” His eyesockets shone with excitement. “YOU DO?”

“I said yes!” 

“WOWIE!” He rose to his feet and hugged you, spinning around happily.

Though you were a little nervous, you were unable to keep from smiling and laughing, and wriggled out of his grasp, in surprise that he could carry you anyway. He set you on your feet, keeping his hands on your shoulders, returning your smile broadly.

Meanwhile, Sans looked on amusedly as the two of you giggled like elated school-children, having fully anticipated an ending like this one.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't hate on it just because it's Undertale (I know the title is lackluster).  
> Get over yourself. I shouldn't have to say this but I know it'll come.


End file.
